Since Chevron filed the bogus RICO action, Ecuadorians and their allies have been relentlessly attacked by the company’s army of lawyers and PR agents. These actions were unrelated to real events in Ecuador, setting a dangerous precedent for corporate attacks on constitutional rights.

“This decision also effectively outlaws core activity protected by the First Amendment such as bringing lawsuits, holding protests, issuing press releases and engaging public officials,” said Deepak Gupta, attorney for the appellate team in response to the verdict. “This is particularly appalling given that this case is about holding a corporation accountable for refusing to clean up decades of toxic pollution in the Amazon.”

Gupta, formerly of Public Citizen, has argued on behalf of plaintiffs in several recent Supreme Court cases, including the high-profile arbitration challenge AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion.

For well over a decade, Amazon Watch has stood with those affected by Chevron’s deliberate dumping of 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the Amazon rainforest. Despite admitting to the crime, Chevron has refused to take responsibility for its actions, its “clean-up” efforts proven to be a sham by its own evidence. The company’s role as sole operator and designer of the extraction system in Ecuador makes it solely liable for its actions, which is why the communities in Ecuador sued Chevron themselves. Despite these facts Chevron has continued to vilify the communities who continue to suffer and die from pollution.

Yesterday’s verdict is an example of Chevron buying and bullying its way to a verdict with 60 law firms and thousands of legal professionals hell-bent on exhausting the Ecuadorians and their allies. Such a verdict will ultimately prove useless in Chevron’s efforts to evade justice.

Chevron fought for years to have the case moved from a U.S. court to Ecuador and Judge Kaplan—who first recommended that Chevron file the case—holds no authority over Ecuadorian courts. Nor can he issue a ruling preventing the Ecuadorian plaintiffs from collecting on an enforceable verdict outside of the U.S. Furthermore, Kaplan’s current order is effectively indistinguishable from an injunction issued by Kaplan in the case two years ago, which was struck down on appeal.

Comments

Michael Berndtson

An interesting issue concerning all of this would be to find out who were the environmental consulting firms hired for expert witnessing. Environmental consulting firms provide expert witness services to law firms, acting as outside council to corporations on matters like Ecuador. And it is good business. Like lots of billable hours at high multiplier good business. Expert witnessing is also where the best and brightest end up when venturing into an environmental career outside of academia. No scientist with degrees from highly reputable universities are going to want to sample monitoring wells very long. And clients don’t pay for individuals highly concerned about environmental protection. Well, except if needed for a PR stunt or ad campaign.

There’s something rotten in New York and it may not be Fresh Kills Landfill.

From CSR Wire: “Chevron Law Firm Gibson Dunn Concedes that Legal Basis for RICO Case Against Ecuadorians Is Invalid, 2/6/2014

The following copied from the article:

“Indeed, the text and history of the RICO statute show that Congress affirmatively decided not to authorize private injunctive claims—a conclusion that the Ninth Circuit and the United States have correctly reached,” Gibson Dunn’s Estrada wrote in the Sykesbrief. “This Court… should now confirm that private RICO claims for injunctive relief fail as a matter of law.”

In the RICO case before Kaplan, Gibson Dunn argued for the very relief that it also says was barred by Congress when it passed the statute. That case is being run by Gibson Dunn lawyer Randy Mastro, the former Deputy Mayor of New York City under Rudolph Giuliani, and current attorney to scandal-plagued New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

This is sick and reeks of corruption and bribery.
Post your comments on Chevron’s Facebook page. Chevron also posted about it on their Facebook page

Shari Peterson

Clearly these poor victims will just need to retain “outside assistance” in clearing up the injustices committed by Chevron in their nation – bury the project managers and executives six feet under. Eventually they will stop doing this when they roll thru hundreds of people who keep ending up missing. And eventually pelople will simply stop working for Chevron just to save their lives.

If someone can suggest an alternative that is fair and just I’m happy to hear it.

Paco Smith.

Shari, I concur with your assessment.

Some may not find it “palatable”, but when dealing with a matter as blatant as this, its best to call a spade, a spade.

I admire your sense of practicality.

Janearthlover

There just comes a time when you wish Chevron execs would lose a loved one to cancer so they can understand what they have done to other people through their malicious greed.

rickw

disgusting comment, yes indeed chevron folks probably have relatives with cancer. Great to be progressive sensitive and maybe caring yet to wish such a thing on others!

Janearthlover

NO – destroying an entire ecosystem and giving people cancer SHOWING NO REMORSE and doing all in your power to skirt responsibility for it is disgusting.You know what you can do with your biased false outrage and misrepresentation of my comment.

Davethereasonable

Chevron’s assets should be seized in countries outside the US until the debt is repaid. Let’s all remember that one of this wicked corporation’s tactics was to argue that the case should be moved from the US to Ecuador, where they thought they could pressure the legal system in their favour. Now they have found a tame judge in the US to do their bidding. Sickening. And when we talk about a ‘corporation’, it is all too easy to forget that these are people treating other people with a disgusting degree of contempt, knowingly and willingly causing harm to increase profits. Immoral. Indefensible. Unethical. Wrong.

Chris Panayi

I have One question: How much did Chevron pay Judge Lewis Kaplan for this?

smytor

There is a documentary that goes into many details surrounding this horror story. It’s called ‘crude’, and is available on netflix, or for purchase online.

Having seen this film, I think Chevron management made a big mistake, first by making such a big toxic mess, and second, by not accepting responsibility for this disaster. Men, women and children have suffered illness and death as a result of this. They think they can go into any poor country, make a big toxic mess, and then go on to the next one. After what happened in Ecuador, what country is going to let them in? I suppose they could bribe public officials, but these officials will risk their lives if they take money and allow oil companies to destroy the country. The Ecuador event demonstrates quite clearly that corporations are concerned only with money, and peoples’ lives are irrelevant, especially if taking responsibility for their suffering affects the bottom line. Not only should the executives, guilty of murder, be on death row, the corporation should be broken up and sold off. The fact that, after so many years, they have been able to buy their way out of any responsibility, should be a signal to all of us that corporations need to be controlled by appropriate legislation, ascribing responsibility to those who dare to murder innocent civilians in their drive for money and power, to keep this kind of thing from ever happening again.

I might add that very similar behavior is now being demonstrated right here in the states as regards the fracking industry, as they destroy peoples’ lives and property values by contaminating their wells and property with toxins resulting from drilling and blasting, and they do this with impunity due to current legislation. We really must contact our legislators and raise hell about this, especially if they had anything to do with this legislation. As long as this is allowed to stand, none of us are safe.

http://wiseoldsnail.org/ wiseoldsnail

unfortunately, as happened with unrepresentative ‘leaders’ of the native tribes of turtle island, there will be ‘leaders’ of other countries who allow this type of devastation for their own benefit and profit, to the detriment of their people

same is true with oil exploration and fracking : our ‘representatives’ are in the pockets of corporate sociopaths … our government a wholly owned subsidiary of multiple corporate creeps

Kevin Schmidt

If TPP is rammed down our throats, this kind of corporate theft will happen all the time.

wrymind

Another instance of our “country of laws” being nothing but whores for the 1%, and, in saying that, I must apologize to thousands of prostitutes who have FAR better ethics.

bakunin

Remember that this damage was done decades ago by Texaco, years before that company was purchased by Chevron. Also remember that the environmental standards in that time were much looser than current standards, and that Ecuador’s own national petroleum producer was adhering to the same standards and contributing to similar environmental damage. I’ve been many times in Sucumbios province in Ecuador where the damage was done and seen some of it. No question that it should be cleaned up to the extent that is possible, but it is unrealistic to think that Ecuador will ever get billions of dollars from a powerful multinational like Chevron to do the clean-up. Expressing outrage at Chevron for spending millions on lawyers won’t clean up the mess. Other countries are very unlikely to seize Chevron’s assets. It was tried in Argentina and failed. The more realistic approach would be to try to work out a long term plan for a clean up that could be financed from many sources. As for damages to the people in Sucumbios, that should be treated as a separate issue, and, again, it will be probably impossible to get Chevron to pay up for damages done by a different corporation five decades ago.

http://wiseoldsnail.org/ wiseoldsnail

i call bullshit . our supposed representatives are benefitting from these atrocities . it’s terrible that these crimes against humanity and the environment are being done in our name … we alone have the power to stop amerikkkan based companies from continuing to destroy the planet and the lives of every creature on it …

http://wiseoldsnail.org/ wiseoldsnail

this is baloney . chevron bought the texaco assets, and along with it come the expenses

Wu Joong

The Unsane, Cruelty Catastrophy Programmed under Corruption and Mafia!